The present invention relates to a guide member for guiding a curtain-like airbag which is deployed along the side structure of the compartment of a vehicle.
In automobiles equipped with curtain airbag systems, the curtain airbag is inflated downward relative to a vehicle body along the side structure (such as a door and/or a pillar) of the compartment in the event of a side impact or rollover to protect the head of an occupant and to prevent the occupant from being thrown out of the vehicle when a window opens.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,938 (incorporated by reference herein) discloses an arrangement that includes a C pillar with a guide member for guiding the rear end of a curtain airbag, which is inflated along the side structure of the compartment, downward relative to the vehicle body and along the pillar.
The guide member disclosed in the above-mentioned patent includes a box section member called a track and a slider member arranged in the track and movable along the length of the track, the rear end of the curtain airbag being connected to the slider member. Also, latches are arranged at equal intervals substantially over the whole length of the track to prevent the rear end of the curtain airbag, which has moved downward, from returning upward.
The track has mounting flanges at the upper and lower ends, each flange being mounted to the C pillar with a bolt or a screw.
When mounting the guide member to the pillar with bolts or screws, as described above, a worker must hold the guide member by one hand and handle a tool by the other hand to rotate the bolts or screws, thus having low working efficiency. When the worker moves the one hand off the guide member during the bolting or screwing operation, the guide member may be rotated together with the bolts or screws.